Greg McElroy is the veteran returning at quarterback for Alabama after being considered a question mark in 2009. (Photo courtesy Unv. Alabama Athletic Dept.)

Combined Reports
(August 31, 2010)

TUSCALOOSA – The Alabama football team continued its preparations for Saturday’s season opener with a two-hour practice in full pads on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields Monday afternoon.

San Jose State comes to Tuscaloosa under first-year head coach Mike MacIntyre after Dick Tomey retired following the 2009 season. The Spartans identity on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football are a mystery for the Crimson Tide coaches.

“In college football you see a multiple of different things that is amazing,” head coach Nick Saban said about preparing for San Jose State. “The adjustments that you have to make from week to week are amazing and this is a tough preparation for our defense in that light, because Nevada-Reno was the number one rushing team in the country and supposedly that is the offense that this team is running.”

The Crimson Tide defense, which replaces nine starters from the 2009 national championship squad, will have to adjust on the fly to what it sees from the Spartans’ offense.

Saban: Journey begins

Saban compared the start of the season to a "journey," stating it will begin the definition of the 2010 team.

"How you define yourself – individually and collectively as a group, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams and individually as a player – all starts with this game in terms of how you play, how you compete and how you are able to play with discipline to execute and do your job," Saban said. "Everybody will make some judgment about that relative to how you define yourself. All those factors sort of develop the identity of the team. There are only certain people that can affect that identity, and that’s the people on the team – it’s the coaches, the players and the people on the team, the people in the team meetings – who can affect that. It’s up to them and us as to how we go about this year. If you’re a great competitor, you’re looking forward to establishing the kind of competitive spirit that people look at you in terms of how you play."

Saban was asked which questions were still needing an answer with the opener just days away. As usual, Saban was philosophical in his answers.

"“What the maturity is? What the identity is going to be? The things that I have talked about before," he said. "What is the chemistry of the team? Are the young players going to mature? Are there enough older players that have played to provide the leadership and example to affect those guys and help their maturity? I think those are the big things. We have some guys that are in critical spots as specialist that it will be interesting to see how they grow and develop in their confidence and what they do to be performers for us.”

McElroy more composed in second season-opening start

This time last year, the questions were surrounding Greg McElroy prior to his first start as the Alabama quarterback.

With a national championship under his belt, this season’s opener seems almost anti-climatic. But there are still a few butterflies for the senior.

"“I think everybody is a little anxious and little nervous for the first game regardless of who the opponent is," McElroy said. "I think everybody just understands how much preparation went into this coming up Saturday. We’ve been working at this since January and it’s finally here. Nine months later we’ve finally arrived at the first game. Everybody wants to get off to a good start and have a great first game. Of course there are a few butterflies, but those should wear off after the first couple of snaps.”

Opener on Pay-Per-View

Alabama kicks off the 2010 season Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium at 6:07 p.m. The game will be broadcast on a pay-per-view basis by the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

The pay-per-view telecasts will be available on participating cable systems in Alabama, as well as DirecTV and Dish satellite television in Alabama and California, Allowing fans the option to watch a game they otherwise would not be able to see on television.
 
The games are being televised on a pay-per-view basis because they were not selected for over-the-air broadcast or cable television coverage as part of the SEC Conference package.  In that instance, pay-per-view presents the only available option for fans to see the games live. The price for residential purchase of each game is $29.95 if purchased in advance, or $34.95 per game if purchased on Sept. 4.